When will the new, higher conforming loan limit come into effect for US mortgages?
As to a $450K mortgage, what is often done is to take out a loan at $417K to meet the conforming limit and lower interest rate, then to take a second mortgage or home equity loan to get the $33K difference. The second mortgage will be at a higher rate, probably by several percent, mostly because the second mortgage holder only gets what is left over after the first mortgage is paid in the event of a default and foreclosure, so their risk is higher. The benefit of this two-mortgage approach is to lower the effective overall rate of interest payments. You can then try and pay off the second loan more quickly, ending up with a single conforming mortgage. As to if it is worth it to refinance, you would need to do some math to see. There are pretty significant costs involved, so that it is usually not worth it unless the rate has dropped by a full percentage point, but even that depends on how long you intend to be in the house. For an alternative, consider renting. Seriously, it is likely
